The FOMC's updated "dot plot," showing its preferred trajectory of interest rates, indicated that fewer members were anticipating a rate hike this year, though the median dots still indicate two interest-rate increases this year.

Taking all this into account, however, Goldman's Jan Hatzius wrote that Fed chair Janet Yellen had shifted the FOMC's "center of gravity," writing:

We had viewed a clear signal for a September hike at the June meeting as close to a necessary condition for the FOMC to actually hike in September, but the committee did not lay that groundwork [on Wednesday]. Our new call moves our forecast for what the FOMC will do closer to our long­standing view of what the FOMC should do, in light of risk management considerations.

The Fed has emphasized all along that it is glued to incoming economic data and will use it as the basis for its policy decision.

According to Goldman, the "data hurdle" appears to be too high for a hike in September.

Further abroad, Yellen touched on the debt crisis in Greece in her news conference, noting that the US economy had "limited direct exposure" to any fallout. But she did allow the possibility of a spillover effect that could affect the Fed's assessment of the economy.

With Greece's debt unresolved, Goldman still sees some threat to the US economy.

Hatzius again:

A hike in September could again become our baseline if we were to see much stronger­ than­ expected activity or inflation data over the next few months, a sharp easing of financial conditions, or a combination of the two. But that said, we think a December liftoff date is both more likely and better policy than September.

Here's a chart comparing the Fed's current year-end forecasts for interest rates with where it was in March.